Into The Fire
by Lizzie9
Summary: Framed. Set up. The evidence was mounting against them. The feds want them jailed, the mob wants them dead. The world around them was on fire, and they were forced into the flame. Two partners in a race to clear their name and save their lives. EO.
1. Chapter 1

**Title: Into The Fire**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: It would be nice to own such a vast enterprise, but it's all Dick Wolf. **

**Summary: Through a series of what can only be described as unfortunate events, Elliot and Olivia become the prime suspects in the murder of several informants who are key witnesses against the mob and a Colombian drug cartel. They're forced into hiding until they can clear their names, the question of whether that is possible, as well as the fact they're endangering everyone around them. **

**Author's Note: We haven't written SVU fiction in 35 years, approximately. We've been really into Grey's, but this struck us hard just moments ago. **

**Some important notes to keep in mind while reading this fic: **

**Elliot and Kathy are separated, not yet divorced.  
****We're pretending Olivia and Elliot have been experiencing sexual tension, but have not yet acted on it.  
****Elliot and Olivia are in love with each other, but neither has admitted it to themselves or acknowledged it to anyone else  
****Finally…. THE FIRST CHAPTER IS AN EXCERPT FROM THE MIDDLE OF THE FIC. The second chapter will backtrack to the actual beginning. **

**Plus… expect this to be a longer fic. **

**And as always….REVIEW. **

_East Village, Manhattan  
3:40 am_

It was wet, cloudy and windy. The rain had subsided for now, but it threatened to come back and dump on Manhattan at any moment. On a seedy corner in the now deserted East Village, Casey Novak crossed the street, her umbrella still up.

She hoped against all hope that the two detectives who were half a block behind her were still following, without interference from federal agents looking to arrest them or Russians looking to kill them.

She didn't dare look back, she just kept walking. Finally, she cut up and alley, and waited. Mercifully, half a minute later, Elliot and Olivia appeared, dressed in black.

"How bad is it, Case?" Olivia asked.

The assistant district attorney shook her head. "It's bad. Really bad." She swallowed. "I think it's beyond evidence now. I think…" she swallowed again and shook her head. She lowered her voice from a whisper to sound that was barely audible. "I think someone might be setting you up."

Elliot closed his eyes. "Outside or inside?" he asked.

Casey shook her head. "Too early to tell. We'll keep poking around as much as we can. But…"

"But the only way out is to find out who killed those informants."

Casey looked down. Olivia reached out and touched her on the arm. "What is it, Case?"

Casey sighed. "I expect the warrant for your arrest to be issued in a day or so. That's why I brought you here." She said, gesturing behind her. "You're going to have to stay here. It's a long story, but it's being leased by a friend who's out of town."

"So what should we do?"

"Wear sunglasses and hats to leave. Keep a low profile, and dig as deep as you can. It's not going to be easy, but it's a big, anonymous city."

Elliot nodded. "We're going to start with the Russians, tackle the Colombians later."

Casey shook her head. "You're going to need to fight on both fronts." She shifted her weight uncomfortably.

"Casey we got locked up, questioned, and now we're hiding, meeting you in the middle of the night. You can tell us."

"The feds aren't the only ones after you. The Russians and the Colombians have managed to come to one more agreement. A bounty hunt for the two of you, and dead, before you figure it out."

"That they killed those informants?"

Casey shook her head. "There has to be something bigger going on here. Things like this don't…." She looked at them. "If someone is setting you up, if there is something going on here, someone doesn't want anyone else to know."

Olivia pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't believe this." She moaned. Elliot gripped her shoulder protectively.

"Hey." He said gently. "We will get out of this. We always do."

Casey had to smile at that. "We'll do everything we can." She assured them. A few more hushed words of reassurance, and she was gone.

Olivia handed Elliot the key Casey had slipped her. "Home sweet home." She said bitterly, slumping against the wet, slimy wall. Elliot pulled the key out of the lock and turned to her. He cupped her cheeks with his hands.

"Look at me." He said gently.

Reluctantly, she opened her huge brown eyes and looked into his intense blue ones. He pressed his lips to her forehead. "Liv, this is us we're talking about. We're not going down without giving them the biggest fight they've ever seen, okay?"

She nodded and smiled, and together, they entered their new hiding place.


	2. Chapter 2

**Title: One Hell Of A Racket**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: It would be nice to own such a vast enterprise, but it's all Dick Wolf. **

**Summary: Through a series of what can only be described as unfortunate events, Elliot and Olivia become the prime suspects in the murder of several informants who are key witnesses against the mob and a Colombian drug cartel. They're forced into hiding until they can clear their names, the question of whether that is possible, as well as the fact they're endangering everyone around them. **

**Author's Note: We haven't written SVU fiction in 35 years, approximately. We've been really into Grey's, but this struck us hard. **

**Attn: This is the actual beginning. We're now backtracking to how we got to the first chapter. Which is more of a prologue, anyway. **

**And as always….REVIEW. **

_"We'll do it all, everything, on our own,  
We don't need anything or anyone."  
-Snow Patrol_

_The 1-6, Manhattan  
3:00 PM_

"Benson, Stabler." Cragen called, sweeping through the precinct. "Where are we on the Williams case?"

Olivia leaned back in her chair. "Petrovsky looks the most promising." She called out. "And we think we have witnesses."

Cragen nodded. "Talk to Novak, get the interviews done. I want to close this before the next disaster strikes."

Olivia rolled her eyes. "He's a cheery ray of sunshine." She said dryly. She looked across the desk at Elliot. His eyes were unfocused and his face was set in a morose expression. She got up and poured them each a cup of coffee and set his down on his desk with a sympathetic smile.

Her delicate hand clutched his shoulder. "El…"she started. He looked up at her, marveling at how she didn't know that her hand burned his skin and a way he couldn't even admit to himself.

He looked up at her. "Sorry." He said gruffly, not sure what he was apologizing for. She smiled again.

"You okay?"

"I'll be okay." He confirmed. She bit her lip and nodded, and he knew she didn't believe him. Elliot leaned back in his chair. Kathy's separation wasn't a surprise. He had known it was coming. She had known, their kids had known.

How much she had known, that had surprised him.

"_I'm leaving, El." She said. _

"_Okay." He had said, not having any other words._

_She blinked at him. "Okay." She repeated. "I was right." _

"_Right?" _

"_It's not just the job, Elliot." She said, looking down. "It's the partner." _

_He froze; her three words hitting the deepest, most sacred he desperately grasped. "Kathy, that's ridiculous." He said, sputtering, reaching for anything that would help him do what he always did. Deny, deny, deny. _

_She laughed bitterly. "Please Elliot, I'm your wife. You think I don't know? You think I can't read you? It's written all over your face. Every morning, every night. She makes you…glow." _

_Elliot shook his head. "No, you're wrong." _

"_Am I, El?" she demanded. "Am I really? Can you look me in the eyes and tell me you don't love her?" _

_He looked at her, for what felt like forever, but he couldn't bring himself to say it. And with that short conversation, it was over. And he couldn't deny it anymore._

Olivia smiled at him again before heading back to her side of the desk. She almost sat down again, but the energy coursing through her veins was too much. She had to keep in motion. She'd been doing that a lot lately; not pausing, even for a second.

The thought of Elliot sent adrenaline coursing through her like she couldn't believe. It was easier to keep moving. So now, instead of sitting, she took her coffee up to the roof. It was cool, but not too cold. Spring had come early this year, and the city seemed to be thriving in the warmth.

She could feel warmth stirring in her as well. He was separated from his wife. Her feelings were progressing beyond a secret love. It was no longer a deliciously tragic emotional burden for to shoulder in silence.

She wanted him now, and that pull was strong. She wanted him in every forbidden, desirable way, and combined with the way she loved him, the love that brought her to her knees, it was powerful. And dangerous.

* * *

_Brighton Beach, Brooklyn  
5:22 PM  
_

"Hi, I'm Olivia Benson, and this is my partner, Detective Stabler. We're from Manhattan SVU. We'd like to ask you a few questions."

The pretty blonde waitress looked around nervously. "I can't really do that." She said in her light, pleasing Russian accent. She gave them a tight lipped smile.

"We think you may have been with Ivan Petrovsky." Elliot said. "Last Saturday, in the city?"

She shook her head. "I can't really say."

"Alyssa." Olivia said to the girl. "He raped someone. A twenty year old woman, who he left lying unconscious in a gutter after he was finished. Are you really going to let him get away with that?"

She shook her head and pushed past them. "I'm sorry detectives, I have customers waiting inside. I really can't answer any of your questions."

The ride back to Manhattan was a long one, filled with traffic and words they wished they were saying. "It's odd." Olivia said. "She was just like the guy we interviewed yesterday."

"Jose." Elliot confirmed. "You're right. They both kept saying they really couldn't answer any of our questions."

"What does that mean?" Olivia pondered out loud. "Obviously, Alyssa's in the mob's pocket. But Jose? What's he afraid of?"

Elliot pursed his lips, a sign he was thinking. "Could be anything. Drugs, debts. We should have Fin talk to Narcotics. Find out who controls the corners in Jose's neighborhood."

Olivia nodded, and stared out the window as they continued their ride home in the perfect, easy silence they could achieve only with each other.

* * *

It was almost seven by the time they got back to the city. Elliot wasn't sure where to go. He could go back to work, but there was really no need to go back to the 1-6 tonight. He could drop her off, and they could both return to empty apartments. 

"Hungry?" he asked.

She looked at him quizzically. "Do you even have to ask?" she countered. He smiled the intoxicating, cocky grin usually mastered by frat boys.

"I try to be polite."

"I'm guessing you don't want me to cook." Olivia said, smiling back at him, her own sassy, assured smile.

"After the infamous home cooked meal incident of 2004? Never again, Liv. How's Italian sound?"

"Perfect." She said quietly, happiness evident in her voice. He was hers for just a little longer. A few more hours that she got to hold onto it, keep it true, keep it tangible. "It sounds perfect."

* * *

It was like a disease. The two of them seated across from each other at a table in a dimly lit restaurant? It was like a disease he never wanted to cure. God, she was beautiful. The hair that was growing, that would soon skim her shoulders. Her milky, smooth skin. Her big brown eyes. 

Eyes that trusted him, eyes that believed in him, even when the rest of the world didn't. Eyes that sparkled with little flecks of gold. These were not details a partner should notice, but he couldn't help himself.

Not in the least. Her light blue button down was open, revealing a hint of perfect cleavage that he knew he shouldn't want to see more of. She set her hands on the table, and he kept his clenched under it.

Sometimes it was her hands that got to him. Delicate, slender hands that he wanted to take in his own. Sometimes, he cursed her for having fingers that he knew would just fit intertwined with his.

She sighed, a contented sigh, and he smiled at her. The first genuine smile he'd given anyone since Kathy left. It was the ringing of her cell phone that shattered the moment.

"Benson." She answered. There was silence as she listened. Elliot sat on the other side of the table, watching as she nodded and listening to her side of the conversation. It was routine and unrevealing, but he knew her well enough to know it was more than just any old phone call.

When she hung up and replaced the phone in the pocket of her jacket, she was looking at him with a furrowed brow and a mouth twisted into an expression of confusion and apprehension.

"That was Cragen. Our friends at the FBI want to see us in the morning."

Elliot rolled his eyes. "What have we done now?"

Olivia shrugged. "I guess we'll find out."

The smile he sent her was reassuring. "The feds are always up our asses about something." He said. "We probably stepped across a street where they think they have jurisdiction on a certain side. Whatever it is, we'll figure it out. We'll fix it together."

To his delight, Olivia tipped her head back and laughed. The gold in her eye shone as she smiled back at him. "At least we've got each other, El." She said.

He raised his glass at her across the table. "Thank God for that."


	3. Chapter 3

**Title: One Hell Of A Racket**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: It would be nice to own such a vast enterprise, but it's all Dick Wolf. **

**Summary: Through a series of what can only be described as unfortunate events, Elliot and Olivia become the prime suspects in the murder of several informants who are key witnesses against the mob and a Colombian drug cartel. They're forced into hiding until they can clear their names, the question of whether that is possible, as well as the fact they're endangering everyone around them. **

**Author's Note: We haven't written SVU fiction in 35 years, approximately. We've been really into Grey's, but this struck us hard. So this story, we're trying as hard as we can not to let our ideas run ahead of us. In English, we're taking it slow, drawing it out and trying to paint the full picture. That's why it feels likenothing is happening. **

**And as always….REVIEW. **

_East Side, Manhattan  
7:34 AM_

After all of these years living this life, Olivia had developed the uncanny ability to judge the kind of day she was going to have by the kind of morning she experienced. That particular morning, she woke up with an underlying sense of apprehension.

'_Right'_ she thought. _'Meeting at the F.B.I headquarters at ten.' _A smile graced her lips as she recalled last night's dinner with Elliot. It was embarrassing, really, the hope she took from such simple interaction.

'_Never gonna happen, Liv.'_ She thought to herself. But it was useless. She hoped for it anyway. She peered out her window as she dressed. Blue skies and sun. Definitely a day to walk to work.

Half an hour later, she was getting suspicious. She had time to sip her coffee and stroll at a leisurely pace to the precinct. It seemed like an indication for a great day, but things never went this well.

"Sorry." Came a voice she recognized, as someone bumped into her. She looked at the offending blonde woman. "Olivia?"

"Kathy. Hi." Olivia said awkwardly. "What are you doing up here?"

"I transferred hospitals." Kathy replied with a swallow, hating how intimidated she was by Olivia. "Um, how's Elliot?" she asked, instantly regretting it. Olivia stiffened.

"As well as can be expected," Olivia replied, not bothering to hide the instinctive protectiveness she felt for him. "You haven't talked to him?" she asked.

"Not since he had the kids last weekend. Have you…seen a lot of him?"

"I'm his _partner_, Kathy."

'_Right'._ Kathy thought. That partner word again. It was always thrown in her face, supposed to cover all the sins between the two of them. "I know you think I'm the bad guy." Kathy said. "But you have no idea what it was like. You're the one he talks to. You couldn't know."

Olivia decided the implications of that statement were just too much to deal with. She gave a tight lipped smile. "I'll see you Kathy." She said, hastily walking away. She looked up in time to see a cloud slide in front of the sun.

Oh yeah. It was going to be a fantastic day.

* * *

"Cap!" Elliot called as he sauntered into the precinct and settled in at his desk. "Any idea what the F.B.I wants with us?"

Cragen furrowed his brow and shook his head. "I'm hardly privy to classified government information," he said. "But I did receive a call from our friends over at Police Plaza stressing the need for your cooperation."

"The brass are in on this?" Olivia piped up, sailing in the door and pulling out the chair at her own desk.

Elliot blinked at her, appreciatively taking in her windblown appearance. "Did you walk here?" he asked.

She nodded and reached into her large shoulder bag, producing a bag from the bakery near her apartment. Tossing it to Elliot, she warned him, "One of those is mine." He pulled out a muffin and tossed the bag back to her.

"Hey Stabler," Finn called. "Wanna switch partners?"

Elliot grinned across the desk at Olivia. "Not a chance."

* * *

_F.B.I- Federal Plaza, Lower Manhattan_  
_10:23 AM_

"Detectives." Said the tall, brown haired man whose office they had just stepped into. "Thank you for waiting."

Olivia nodded, shooting a glance at Elliot, telling him with her eyes that now was not the time to do anything stupid. "The wait wasn't a problem," She said. "We're just confused why we're here."

"Well, let's start by saying that I'm Agent Diaz, Federal Bureau of Investigation."

Olivia smiled. "Detective Benson."

Elliot extended his hand. "Detective Stabler."

"Have a seat." Diaz said, seating himself behind his desk, and gesturing to the chairs in front of it. They sat in perfect synchronicity, both settling down into their chairs at the same time. "And, obviously, you have questions."

He cleared his throat. "What I'm about to tell you is not something you can take out of this room. Your captain will be briefed, but I'm afraid it's on a strictly need to know basis."

"Hm. We're need to know." Elliot said, letting a touch of sarcasm into his voice.

"It's because of your case. The Petrovsky case. The witnesses and interviews you made were conducted upon our informants."

"Informants?" Olivia asked, in a tone that conveyed she was hardly convinced by the story.

Diaz nodded solemnly. "You'll find many of the people around Petrovsky are in fact, our informants. You see detectives, Petrovsky is an influential mob boss. He's been in a turf war with the Italians and the Colombians for some time, and recently teamed up with the Colombians against the Italians." Diaz folded his hands on top of his desk and looked at them.

"I'll give it to you straight. People are getting killed left and right. Women are getting raped. Drugs are getting sold, and people are afraid. We're closing in on this thing before it escalates any further, and to do so, we've planted or bought a handful of informants in various places."

Olivia shook her head. "You can't ask us to drop this case. It's our jurisdiction."

Diaz frowned. "To go on with it…."

"Detective Diaz," Elliot said, "There's a twenty year old woman in a bed at Sacred Heart because Petrovsky raped her, beat her and left her lying in a gutter. She's looking to us for justice. What do we tell her?"

Diaz considered this, and stood. "Excuse me." He said, leaving the room. Olivia slumped in her seat and looked at Elliot. He raised his eyebrows back at her, indicating that he was as surprised as she was.

They sat in silence until Diaz opened the heavy mahogany door and sat back down at his desk. "You may continue with your investigation," he told them, "However, you may not question any of our informants. We will be in touch with you with a list of names."

And just like that, their meeting was over.

* * *

Olivia turned to Elliot as soon as they were strapped in a car and had started the slow crawl back uptown to the precinct. "What the hell was that?" she exploded.

"I don't know, Liv. I never expected he'd try to get us to close the case."

"This makes me uneasy." She commented after awhile.

"What about it?" he prodded, trying to get her to open up. It was something she rarely did. No, it wasn't. She opened up to him all the time. It was rare that she let him glimpse her vulnerable side. The side that wasn't invincible.

"Nothing. It's silly." She said, biting her lip. She didn't want him to feel like he had to protect her. "I bumped in to Kathy this morning." She said lightly.

Elliot tensed and turned his head away from the inching traffic to look at her. "Where?"

"On my way to work."

"And you couldn't tell me before?"

"Lot going on. She seems okay."

Elliot nodded. "Well I'm glad. That she's okay."

They rode in silence for a few more minutes, each of them lost in thought, each of them worried that this conversation would lead down _that_ rode. Olivia's face betrayed no emotion. She had long since learned to hide her feelings where Elliot was concerned.

Elliot looked at her with envy. She was stoic. A blank slate. '_Tabula rasa_'he mused, the little Latin that had stayed with him since high school flying through his head. He was the one who got angry. He snapped, yelled and hit things, but Liv was the strong one. The one in control.

The silence got to be too heavy, too much. Olivia looked over at him and grinned. "So how much did you want to take a shot at Diaz and his pretentious, need to know attitude?"


	4. Chapter 4

**Title: One Hell Of A Racket**

**Authors: Sara And Lizzie**

**Rating: T for language, mild sex**

**Disclaimer: It would be nice to own such a vast enterprise, but it's all Dick Wolf. **

**Summary: Through a series of what can only be described as unfortunate events, Elliot and Olivia become the prime suspects in the murder of several informants who are key witnesses against the mob and a Colombian drug cartel. They're forced into hiding until they can clear their names, the question of whether that is possible, as well as the fact they're endangering everyone around them. **

**Author's Note: We haven't written SVU fiction in 35 years, approximately. We've been really into Grey's, but this struck us hard. **

**Attn: This is the actual beginning. We're now backtracking to how we got to the first chapter. Which is more of a prologue, anyway. **

**And as always….REVIEW. **

_All I want to do  
is be there. _

_Little Italy,  
4:52 PM_

Olivia raised questioning eyebrows at Elliot as they entered the dingy building. It was old brick, the kind of building that had been there for years, it's upkeep long since abandoned. The stoop was covered in layers of grime, and it only got more dilapidated as Elliot pushed open the door and they headed up the stairs.

Tony Mazatto. He was their interview of the day, the third F.B.I informant they were talking to in secret. Tony was one of the F.B.I employees put undercover on this case because he was authentically very Italian. Olivia couldn't help but feel like the past week had put her in an episode of The Sopranos. Diaz had granted them several interviews to a few informants. If she was honest with herself, Olivia didn't know what was going on with this case, or anything surrounding it, just that it made her uneasy. She stood behind Elliot as he knocked on the door to the apartment they wanted.

The continued sound of his knuckles against the wood broke Olivia's inner monologue. There was no answer. Diaz had more than likely told his guy they would be stopping in. He should have been there, expecting them. Olivia saw Elliot's shoulders tense as he raised his fist to knock on the door once more. As he called in that they were police, Olivia watched his back. She could tell by the movements of his muscles what he was feeling. Nervous, relaxed, upset, tense. She knew her partner, knew his strengths, his weaknesses and all of ticks.

It was how they worked. She knew that detectives in their precinct outside of SVU whispered about them. They had too much invested in each other, and they both knew it. When you can time your own movements, your own thoughts and all of your actions against someone else's, of course you know them too well. They had invested everything they had in each other, especially since his divorce. He had become disconnected and distant, but she hadn't for one second given up on him. It was just the way they worked.

Elliot turned his head back enough to meet her eyes. She nodded, and sensed him getting ready to kick the door down. She reached for the handle with her small hand and twisted, pushing it open. He looked at her, almost sheepishly, and she just shrugged. So he liked to knock down doors. She could live with that, as long as he always let her try the knob first.

They drew their guns as they walked in, just in case. Olivia felt Elliot draw a little closer to her, staying in front of her in case someone was there, but giving her a perfect aim over his left shoulder should she need it. "Tony?" he called out as they separated and moved towards separated doors on opposite sides of the room. Olivia had the bathroom, which was vacant. It was so miniscule; she had counted on its emptiness. Bathrooms that could barely fit a shower rarely made good hiding places. "Liv." Elliot called.

She crossed the tiny apartment in four quick strides, falling still as she looked into the bedroom. The body of who she assumed was Tony Mazatto lay on the bed, a single trail of blood trickling down his face from the bullet hole in his forehead. She reached for her phone and dialed. "This is detective Benson," she started, spitting out her badge number and that day's security color. "We need a bus immediately, 3242 Elizabeth St."

They watched the EMT cart the body into the ambulance. "We're taking him right to the morgue." He said. "Called ahead. The ME's a little backed up, but she can have your information by tomorrow." Elliot nodded and muttered a thank you to him, and turned his attention to his partner, who was staring at the house, biting her lip listlessly.

"Liv…" he said, putting hand on her arm. "What is it?" She turned to him with stormy eyes, and the wind blowing her bangs across her forehead. She looked down at the dirty pavement, and Elliot waited patiently.

"It's just…" she started, "I just hate this. I have a bad feeling about this, Elliot. Three competing mob groups? Dead informants, all the secrecy. I don't trust anything here."

Before he could think about it enough to stop himself, he stroked her arm with his thumb and looked her in the eyes. "Hey," he said gently, "With a tough guy like me looking out for you? You've got nothing to worry about." She twisted her arm, wrenching it from his grasp and smiled impishly.

"Oh yeah," she said nodding, "Real tough guy, you are."

* * *

_Office Of The Medical Examiner  
7:30 AM_

"I hope you're happy." Warner said when they walked into her lab. "Last night was a bitch. Two Jane Does in Brooklyn, and a dead dealer in Washington Heights, and then they need your guy rushed."

Elliot smiled at her. "That's why you're the best." Olivia nodded in agreement, sipping the coffee she was holding. Warner just shook her head at them and opened her report.

"Cause of death was obviously the bullet to the head, that's not the news. The interesting thing was the bullet itself."

Olivia raised an eyebrow and Elliot's brow furrowed as they stared at her questioningly. She looked at them, shaking her head, her eyes betraying that the news was neither expected nor particularly good. "It's a police issue bullet." She said. Olivia turned her head in Elliot's direction and they exchanged a glance.

"Could you determine a time of death?"

"Couldn't have been any more than thirty minutes before you got there. The blood had barely dried."

Elliot nodded. "Thanks Melinda." He said, ushering Olivia out the door. They walked back to the car in silence, each lost in their own thoughts and their own apprehensions. "Well that's interesting." Elliot finally said.

Olivia's lips parted to respond, but any words she had died on her lips. She just lowered herself into the car and looked out the window as they drove back to the precinct. When they made it to their desks, Elliot noticed a familiar figure waiting for them. "Agent Diaz." He said, extending his hand. Diaz shook it quickly, passing Elliot a note. With that, he was gone.

Elliot unfolded the paper and read it, passing it to Olivia. "We're meeting him at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge at four." She muttered, loud enough for only Elliot to hear. "Interesting, indeed."

* * *

_Brooklyn  
4:04 PM_

Diaz led them to a scenic strip of concrete and the three of them leaned against the railing the separated them from the water. Across the glittering expanse of the New York Bay was the financial district, the legendary skyscrapers that gave New York its image. To the passerby, they were simply three people whimsically watching the skyline of their most beloved city.

In reality, Diaz spoke to them in hushed tones, conveying the severity of the situation. "Describe it to me." He said. Olivia looked him in the eye.

"It was about 4:55. We knocked on the door for awhile, but there was no response at all. We started to get nervous, so we tried the knob and it was open. We let ourselves in and on our routine sweep of the apartment we found Mazatto in the bedroom. I called in a bus at about 5:02."

Diaz nodded. "What about on the street?"

"It was little Italy," Elliot said. "No one stood out as particularly out of place."

Diaz nodded. "I'm waiting for check-ins from the rest of my informants. Until I get them, I'm going to have to ask you to suspend your investigation."

Elliot and Olivia nodded in unison, not bothering to say any actual words. The less they said, the better off they were. It was not lost on either of them that they were brought here out of courtesy. Diaz was allowing them to tell him exactly what happened, before they were forced to tell someone in an interrogation room. Though they had yet to articulate it to each other, they were both thinking that it certainly didn't look good.

Diaz nodded at them. "I'll be in touch." He said, walking back to his car. Elliot and Olivia stood there after he left, just breathing and looking out at the water, the city. Neither of them made a move to return to the car, or to speak, or interact in anyway. There were so many things she wanted to say to him. That even though she never showed it, pretended to dislike it, she wanted him to be there to protect her. She wanted him to care. She wished she could turn to him, take his hands and say it all. She didn't mind him protecting her because she loved him.

And the words he wished he could utter to her. He wanted to pull her close to him and kiss her. A real kiss, the kind he had wanted to give her for years, not the sisterly pecks on the cheeks they had been known to exchange at holidays. He wanted to tell her that she could crumble, she could doubt, it wouldn't kill him. She didn't have to be so strong for him; he wanted to protect her.

"Olivia…."

"Yeah?"

He shook his head. "Never mind. We should get back."


End file.
